Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) German poet
"The Root of All Evil" as translated by Michael Hamburger
Jitterbug Perfume (1984)
Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) German poet
"The Root of All Evil" as translated by Michael Hamburger
“Only one letter divides the comic from the cosmic.”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
“The great modern novel of the comic-pathetic illusion of freedom is Confessions of Zeno.”
Italo Svevo (1861–1928) Italian writer
James Wood in London Review of Books, January 3, 2002. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n01/wood02_.html. <br class="br">Criticism
“There are two atheisms of which one is a purification of the notion of God.”
Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist
As quoted in The New Christianity (1967) edited by William Robert Miller
“They shall not live who have not tasted death.
They only sing who are struck dumb by God.”
Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems
"Poets"
Trees and Other Poems (1914)
Context: p>Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells
That the wind sways above a ruined shrine.
Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells
Hunger that craves immortal Bread and Wine. Light songs we breathe that perish with our breath
Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod.
They shall not live who have not tasted death.
They only sing who are struck dumb by God.</p
Alan Ryan (1940) British philosopher
Justice (1993)
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) 19th-20th century Spanish writer and philosopher
The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), Conclusion : Don Quixote in the Contemporary European Tragi-Comedy